Book Update: June (2019)

Hey Happy Bookworms!

So I normally try to post these early so I don’t add to the end of month bombardment that we all get but I had my collab with Adi go up instead! So here we are, another June wrap up for y’all to read 🙂

I got about halfway through June & realised I’d hardly read anything, so most of these have been binge read in the last week or so 😂

As always, spoiler alerts will be put in place when needed ❤

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King’s cage by Victoria Aveyard

I. Loved. This. Book. So. Much.

Maven’s character was 👌 just so good!

Ok, I don’t wanna give anything away so I’m just gonna talk about it generally.
Book 1 was pretty good
Book 2 was boring (apart from the end)
And book 3 was incredible like the whole imprisoned part is so, so, so good!
I just didn’t like the multi-perspectives thing, like, I signed up for Mare & thank god it wasn’t too often. Because I do not like Cameron, like I tolerate her as a 2nd character but as a main character? No thanks. Evangeline’s parts were fine, not gonna lie, didn’t mind those. But I didn’t sign up for the multi perspective & I know it was to further the story as you got the scarlet guard & all the other characters too but still, not what I signed up for.
I’m really curious as to if the next one will be multi perspective? We’ve got Mare back so it’s not needed but…? (I hope not)

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

Awwwww that was a sweet ending!
Honestly though, for the beginning of the book I thought the main character was a boy & I really couldn’t shake it through the whole story although I could kinda accept it at the end 😂
This was – I don’t even really know how to describe it – it had some pretty sweet moments & also some absolutely disgusting moments (do not read this if you’re Squeamish!) but it didn’t blow me away…

A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

This was a pretty good story – I loved reading it & it definitely has some great things for the progression of YA fantasy but at the same time it wasn’t incredible.

I loved all the characters & I love how the book normalises things instead of making them a huge plot point (like some books *cough cough*) I’m pretty sure one of the reasons this book is rated so highly is because Harper just has Cerebral palsy, like she just does & she’s still boss about it. The author does a great job of acknowledging it but not letting it be her defining feature, as with other representations in the book.
I liked Rhen & Harper but it annoyed me when he started pushing her away, like he full on just wouldn’t talk to her for ages & I was like bro, what are you trying to achieve?! Like I know this always happens in beauty & the beast retellings but it annoys me EVERY TIME.
*spoilers now* With Grey at the end I feel like he’s making a bit of a big deal out of it, like maybe Karis Luran knows but she can’t really prove it & people were already scoffing at the theory so…yeah, I feel like he’d probably be safer at court because now if someone finds him then it’s gonna be all well why did you pretend to die if you’ve got nothing to hide?!

Meat Market by Juno Dawson

Ahhhhhh! I love Juno Dawson’s writing so much! It’s such a balance to the candy-cute YA books we all read (no shade, they’re great too 😝)
I always like to compare her books to other books but with a grown up twist. So this is like the grown up version of geek girl.

It’s time to get real – the fashion industry, the good, the bad & the very, very ugly.
It’s a pretty great read, I loved the mystery of what the interview was, her experiences as a model, her schooling, Blo 😡 & also, I like the fact that she kept her boyfriend & best friend, which normally wouldn’t happen in a book like this because they’ve always gotta ‘outgrow their roots’.
Based in London & recently so all the pop culture references (it’s a game – how many can you spot?) but also features other parts of the world.
This also goes into the ethical & moral side of fashion (so some thought food for you all).

Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick

This was the book I read for my don’t judge a book by it’s cover challenge that I did with Adi so my review’s here.

On the Come Up by Angie Thomas

Ayyyyyy! This was such a great follow up book to the hate u give (I mean that as in this isn’t a sequel but it’s after the events that happened) and it’s so cool seeing someone else’s perspective on it.
I also like the contrast of Starr going to that interview (in THUG) to Bri having more power to release it her way (speaking of – nothing really came from the music video apart from a little comment from Supreme, so that could’ve been followed up a bit more)

Anyway, it’s a great book & I really enjoyed it – loved all the character relations – and it’s also got loads of songs in there (for ppl that like having lyrics in books) Also, just me or should books with lyrics release a soundtrack so you can actually listen to the songs? (yes, yes they should!)

Angie Thomas’ next book is gonna be about a character we’ve already met, so I’m putting it out there that my guess is Miles?

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth E. Wein

Guys, I nearly didn’t read this book. I NEARLY DIDN’T READ THIS BOOK! What a disaster that would have been.

This is such a perfect, perfect, clever, clever book! I loved Verity – her charm & humour.
I can’t even write a proper review for this, it was just so incredibly good (so go put it on your TBR now!)
But here’re some reasons you should read this:
• interesting narration – the first half is in third & first person at the same time! (How? You’ll have to read it…)
• lying narrators (won’t say much about this but it was also used in 13 minutes by Sarah Pinborough & I think it’s SO interesting!)
• A war story – which I don’t normally like (they’re so sad!) but this one was SO good & still sad but so meaningfully sad 😭
• A character where you know you have to HATE him but he shows some kindness & humaneness & it messes with your moral compass
• SPIES!
• Boss girls (with flaws, because we’re not perfect)
• some stuff on planes & mechanics so if that’s your thing then great but if it’s not (like me) it’s pretty easy to skim read
• there’s no romance, just friendship 💕
• it’s really trippy because you’re enjoying the story & then you suddenly get a little reminder of where Verity is…

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff 

I don’t normally read sci-fi (like at all) but I just fancied the sound of this one & everyone & their mothers loved it so…here we are.

As I don’t normally read sci-fi I can’t really comment on it’s sci-fi-ness or say if it’s a good sci-fi or not but I can comment on the story (because you know, I’m a book blogger 😂)
Anyway…
At the beginning it was good & all but I wasn’t really getting the hype, but as it continued – wow – just some of the moments. This book is actually super gory & should not be read by the faint hearted, it’s also down-right scary – I mean, deadly disease making people go mental & kill each other? BOUND to make some horror scenes (and they sure did – anyone remember the ‘help us’?) Plus the whole rogue AI (because who doesn’t need more mental?)
Because it’s such a largely populated story (3 whole ships worth of people) you can only imagine the deaths that will take place & obviously not all of them were documented but some are so um…don’t read this if you hate getting attached to ppl that die.
I love the whole idea of the book (I always call it mixed-media but I might be misusing that term) the way it collages everything together, it also just makes it a really easy book to just pick up whenever (and really hard to put down) ALSO HOW MUCH INK WAS USED TO MASS-PRINT THIS BOOK?
I also liked the banter between the characters, Ezra & his mates, Kady & Byron, Kady & Ezra – all good & funny! Saying that, it is quite a funny book in places, I say ‘quite’ cause I know I didn’t get all the jokes but it did make me chuckle a couple of times.
Anyway, I’ve gone on long enough!
A very clever book & I did really enjoy it 🙂

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And happy pride month everyone! 🏳️‍🌈 I was so swamped with books I had to read that I didn’t read anything specifically for it but some of the books I read had LGBTQ+ characters so at least I kinda did read something?

Anyway, thanks for reading! How was your reading month? Opinions on the books above?